Motor vehicle control mechanism



Feb. 20, 1951 H. o. HEDGES MOTOR VEHICLE CONTROL MECHANISM 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 7, 1947 INVENTOR.

HARRY HEDGES ATTORNEY H. O. HEDGES MOTOR VEHICLE CONTROL MECHANISM Feb. 20, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 7, 1947 INVENTOR.

HARRY o. Haverss ATTORNEY Feb. 20, 1951 v Q HEDGES 2,542,410

MOTOR VEHICLE CONTROL MECHANISM Filed March 7, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

HARRY O HEDGE$ XMMM ATTORNEY Patented Feb. 20, 1951 UNITED STAT ES PATENT OFFICE Moron VEHICLE CONTROL MECHANISM Harry Hedges, Seattle, Wash, assignor' to The 'ljabor Manufacturing Company, Philadelphia, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania ilm'ilication March 7, 1947, Serial .No. 733 ;259

,1- Claim. 1 Thepresent invention relates to" motor vehicle cbntrol' mechanism-and more particularly to a novel intewrelatedbrake pedal and accelerator pedal; 1

In vehicle controls as heretofore in use, it .is

the 'common practice to operate the brak pedal with one foot and the accelerator with the same foot; Shifting from one to the Other as Occasion demands. Thus,- in: driving a motor" vehicle, a f oot normallyrest's upon and oentrols the throttle or accelerator pedaluntil such time as it becomes necessary to operate the brake, whereupon the thlfbtfle fodtm'ust Shift to the brake peqalt'o rea e or bring'the vehicle to a stop. This type orioperation in'trmii'ices a hazard because in an emergency many drivers b'eoome confusedand, instead of lifting" the foot from the accelerator pedal, excitedly" press down thereon to cause the vehicle to crash into whatever the'driver intended toavoid.

,In some instances single neon controls have been tried. butha've been found impractical'due to? confusion of the" operator 'in' trying to select the proper operation; or in other instances siiniiltaneously"actuating both cannon.

,Soine'of the oh'jects ofthe present invention are: to provide an 'irnpiovedcornbined brake and throttle" control for a} motor'vehic1e; 'to'= provide a dual control for selective operation of either thebrake orthethrottle by one foot of the 01 orator, toprovidea novel brake and accelerator control for motorvehicleswhere'in accidental operation ofj the vehicle throttle instead of the brake is effectually prevented} 'to' provide a control mechanism for motor vehicles whereininall brake operating' positions it is impossible't'o' open thethrottleof the m'otor;to provide a complete unitary accelerator pedal assembly adapted for attachment toth'e' conventiohal'hr-ake lever or a motor vehicle; without requiring any structural changes or modifications ofth'ebrake l'e'ver'orit's mounting. on the vehiciei; and" to provide other improvements aswilf hereinafter appear;

It: will be understood thatthe present invention consists substantially in the combination, construction, location and relative arrangement; of partsallaswill appear more fully hereinafter, as

shown in the accoinpanying' drawings a-nd as -fi-,

nally pointed out in the appended claim. In the said accompanying drawings,

' Figure l represents a sideelevation ot a brake throttle -control mechanism embodying one forir of theprese'rit invention;

Figurc'Z re resentss plan of-the same:

Figure 3 representsa section on line 3--3-of" Figure 1;

Figure 4 represents a side elevation, partly broken away; of the mechanism showing the position of the parts for throttle operation;

Figure 5 represents a side elevation, partly broken away, of the mechanismvshowing the position of the parts for brake operation;

Figure 6 represents a detail in side elevation Figure 5 showing the throttle in closed position Figure 8 represents a section on line 8-8 of Figure 6;

Figure -9 represents a section-on line 9 9sof Figure 4 Figure 10 represents a side elevation,v artly broken away, of the mechanism" showing both' brake and throttle controls inadvertently pusheddown and throttle remaining closed;

Figure 171 isan exploded view of the mech apresent invention is shown as operatively associated with a brake pedal IO formed as a fixed part of the brake lever H or a motor vehicle, such parts; as here shown, being the usual brake.

construction which: remains unchanged instructure and in operation by the attachment of the present invention.

As is sho'wn most clearly inFigur es 6, "7 a'ndQ,

for operating the throttle of a vehicle, the- -throttle lever 12, operatively associated-inconveritional mannerwith the tame-1e carburetor; is fittedwith a laterally projecting pin l3having a transversely extending through hole M to allow free passag therethrough of the fiexible' of this shaft I'Stermi-nates in an enlarged'thrusthead against which the pin I3 is noriniaJ-lly biased by a spring 18 tensione'd'between the lever l2 and a fixed partof the vehicle, such a-s' the' carburetorcasing 20; Thusyalostmotion'oonnec= tion isprovided which-in-ti'irottle closing positionof the lever l2 allows the shaft It to move rela 2,542,410 ii it 1;.

tive thereto and prevent deforming or bending of the shaft [5. As here shown, the shaft l5 passes by way of a bushing 2| into position for attachment to the accelerator pedal 22. For such latter attachment, as shown in Figure 9, the accelerator pedal 22 is also provided with a laterally extending pin 23 having a transversely extending aperture 24 through which the shaft l5 passes, the inner end of the shaft terminating in an enlarged head 25 which normally abuts the pin 23 under the biasing action of the throttle closing spring l8.

As a means for operatively associating the accelerator pedal 22 with the brake control, said pedal is provided with a central body portion having ,an opening 26 to freely receive therein the brake pedal Ill, such opening being straddled by a pair of ears 21 which respectively provide rearwardly extending trunnion bearings for a pair of axially alined pivot studs 2828 for pivotal support of the accelerator pedal upon the brake lever ll.. These studs 28--28 are respec-- tively secured to opposite side extensions 29-30 of a bracket assembly formed of a pair of elongated parts 3| and 32 clamped together about the brake lever H by bolts 33. As securedin place, this bracket assembly is in medial alinement with the accelerator pedal 22 and projects upwardly beyond the central opening 26 of said pedal so as to provide a stop 34 to limit rocking movement of the pedal 22 about its pivot studs 2828 under the biasing action of a compression spring 35 compressed between a socket 33,"

accelerator'pedal 22 extends beyond the biasing spring 35 to form a heel rest 38 for rocking the pedal 22, said rest being flanged and properly contoured to adequately support the heel of the operators foot.

In describing the operation of the device, reference will be made first to Figure 1 wherein the parts hereinbefore described are shown in their normal inoperative position with the accelerator pedal 22 biased by the spring 35 against the relatively fixed stop 34, and with its central'opening 25 embracing the brake pedal It). In this condition of the parts, the throttle spring [8 tensions the. flexible shaft [5 so that its terminal head 25 abuts against the pin 23 of the accelerator pedal 22. In this position the foot of the operator rests naturally upon the pedal 22 with the ball of the foot in contact with the brake pedal H3 and the heel supported by the flanged rest '38.

When it is desired to start and drive the vehicle, the operator presses his heel downward to rock .the accelerator pedal 22 about its pivot studs 28-28, as shown in Figure 4, whereuponthe angular displacement of the acceleratorpedal'22 about its pivot pins relatively to the brake pedal to, V I v; g

' and the accelerator pedal 22.

When it is desired to bring the vehicle to a stop, as shown in Figure 5, the heel of the operator is lifted in the act of pressing the ball of the foot on the pedal Ill whereupon the spring 35 reacts to rock the pin 23 of the accelerator pedal 22 away from the terminal head 25 of the shaft 15, whereupon the shaft is retracted under the pull of the spring I8 upon the throttle lever l2 to close the throttle.

Figure shows the relative positions assumed by the several parts when the operator by mistake presses down on both the brake pedal l0 Inasmuch as the accelerator pedal is pivoted upon the brake pedal lever, any depression of the brake pedal eflects corresponding depression of the acceleratorpedal with consequent shifting of the latter lengthwise of the throttle-actuating shaft I5 and away from its terminal head 25. Consequently, upon depression of the brake pedal, the throttleactuating shaft l5 remains unaifected' by the accelerator pedal even though thelatter; be swung about its pivot against the bias of thespring 35. In this connection, it will be observed that the pin 23 through which the throttle -agi tuating shaft l5 projects is free to oscillate about its axis relatively to the accelerator pedal 22 so as to preclude any possibility of the flexible shaft l5 becoming bound with respect to'the pinv 23 as the latter is shifted along the shaft I5.

' It will now be apparent that a complete unitaryassembly has been devised for attachment to the brake lever of a motor vehicle, such assem bly including an accelerator pedal, a throttlev control mechanism, and a support for pivotally, mounting the pedal in attached position on a, brake lever. When so attached the combined brake and attached pedal assembly provides selective operation of the brake and throttle. mechanism, such operation being governed by the attitude of the foot of the user upon the two pedal controls. Thus, the present inventionmakes it impossible for a user to inadvertently operate a throttle mechanism in place of oper;- ating the brake and thereby eliminates dangers and disadvantages inherent in two, separate and independently operated controls V V As has already been indicated, the device .of the present invention is adapted for ready installation in the vehicle without .requiringany structural modification of or substitution for the conventional brake pedal and lever assembly now, in general use. 'And, if desired, the resent .in vention may be employed as an auxiliary to, instead of as a replacement of, the conventional accelerator pedal. In such case, it is merely necessary to replace the pin l3 extending later-. ally of the throttle actuating lever I2 with a longer pin, as shown in dotted lines in Figure. 8, having a pairof transversely extending open-L lugs 14 andlHl for respective projection there through of a pair of throttle-actuating shafts; l5'and' l5 the, shaft I5 being operatively con-. nected as hereinbefore described to the acceler-' ator pedal 22 of the present invention and the shaft I5 to the conventional accelerator pedal? (not shown) of the vehicle. 'Thus,-either"a'c-'= celer'ator pedal may be employed, as desired, to actuate and control the operation or the throttle lever l2. 1 1 r V It will be understood, of course, that the'pres ent invention is susceptible ofvarious other changes and modifications whichmaybe made; from time to time without-departing from the; e sp t or n ra Princ ple-$ .0 th inve ti n.

and it is accordingly intended to claim the same broadly as well as specifically as indicated in the appended claim.

What is claimed to be new and useful is:

A throttle control attachment adapted to be mounted upon the brake pedal lever of a motor vehicle comprising a throttle control mechanism, sprin means normally holding said control mechanism in closed throttle position, an accelerator pedal having an opening therein for such accommodation of the vehicle brake. pedal as to permit substantial coplanar disposition of said accelerator and brake pedals, means for mounting said accelerator pedal for pivotal movement relatively to said brake pedal, one end of said accelerator pedal being extended for connection to said control mechanism and its opposite end being extended to form a rest designed to receive the heel of an operators foot when the ball thereof is located directly over the brake pedal, said accelerator pedal having a lost-motion connection with said throttle control mechanism to insure against opening of the latter upon depression of the brake pedal, and means interposed between said accelerator pedal and its mounting for normally biasing said pedal into a position in which said throttle means is inefiective.

HARRY O. HEDGES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,527,152 Davis Feb. 17, 1925 1,535,866 Sears Apr. 28, 1925 1,549,348 Davis Aug. 11, 1925 1,724,596 James Aug. 13, 1929 2,177,305 Renner Oct. 24, 1939 2,313,000 Houguel Mar. 2, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 272,945 Great Britain Dec. 22, 1927 

